Families fighting to save their village school turned out in force to send a defiant message to the education axemen.

Families fighting to save their village school turned out in force to send a defiant message to the education axemen.

Dozens of them turned out to give the school a DIY refit and show their determination to keep it open.

Northumberland County Council is proposing to shut down Linton First School, in Linton Village, near Ashington, as part of a county-wide drive to reduce surplus classroom places and save money.

But families in the tightly-knit former mining village have other ideas about their own 23-pupil school and they joined school teachers and governors to spontaneously put their backs to work on some much-needed school improvements.

The idea was to send a clear message to the council that the school is an essential part of the village and more than 50 people were involved in a full day of work.

Among them was 69-year-old Sheila Dickinson whose family have used the school through four generations since it opened in 1927.

Her husband Ronnie, 72, went there at the age of five followed by her son David, 44, and her grandchildren Lee, Jane Rolly and Joy attended the school.

Present day pupils at the school are great grandchildren Lauren, eight, and Carly, five.

Mrs Dickinson said: "I am not happy. I have come to the school for 34 years to help.

"The whole village has worked for their school and they deserve to keep it."

Headteacher Katherine Urwin, 39, who was among the workers, said: "These were improvements to our school planned to take place over the next two or three years. We wanted to update certain areas but word of mouth has spread among the villagers who spontaneously turned up with spades, shovels, wheelbarrows and paintbrushes.

"As the day went on more help came from the village. A local builder donated paving stones to do the quadrangle and the villagers sent skips.

"The village wants to do something to show how important the school is to them and people aged from four to 70 turned out.

"The community have said that the school is the heart of the village and they are proving it today with their hearts and backs and muscles and the work is to continue after today."

Caretaker Geoff Dobson said: "This shows the pride of the community in the school. It's a very close knit community."